


I don't want a lot for Christmas

by Roshwen



Series: All I want for Christmas [1]
Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Also you say 'Fake Dating Trope', Because there's not enough LIT x LIT x LIT smut on this website and I'm doing something about it, Cassandra learing a new word, Christmas fic, Featuring: Ezekiel being an awesome fake boyfriend, I say 'well honed narrative tool', Jake being an idiot who thinks he can't have nice things (but briefly), Multi, Yes I know there's still three months to go before Christmas shut up, You're Welcome, and then smut, kisses all around, so there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-25 01:16:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12025038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roshwen/pseuds/Roshwen
Summary: Cassandra feels obligated to spend Christmas Eve with her awful relatives. Ezekiel offers to go with her and pretend to be her boyfriend so she won't be alone.... You can see where this is going, right?





	I don't want a lot for Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> To my lovely beta who came up with the phrase 'life sized lollipop' and regrets nothing. Thank you.

‘If you really think Christmas at your grandmother’s is going to be that bloody awful,’ Ezekiel said when Cassandra came into the Annex one late November morning, looking pale and close to tears, ‘why don’t I go with you? Pretend to be your boyfriend for the evening and get your folks off of your back?’

Cassandra looked unsure at first. Then she started listing all the reasons why that would be a supremely bad idea (they mostly boiled down to ‘I’m used to it and your Christmas will be ruined because it will be hell’). However, at that point Jake came up to them and took Ezekiel’s side, telling Cassandra that both he and Jones would feel better if someone was to go with her. So Cassandra gave in, looking relieved despite herself.

And that is how on Christmas Eve, they both found themselves in a tastefully decorated room filled with red-haired relatives. Ezekiel hadn’t known you could combine Christmas and tasteful, but apparently the Cillians could. Every candle was perfectly positioned in its stand, there was soft classical music coming from the speakers and even the Christmas tree in the corner looked afraid to shed a needle. There was not a gaudy bauble or plastic baby Jesus to be seen.

Even Cassandra looked the part: her usually unruly red curls were pulled back into a twist and she wore a dark green dress that made her look ten years older than she actually was. Ezekiel had hated it on sight. Of course, she looked amazing because Cassandra would look amazing even in a burlap sack, but this dress wasn’t right for her. Wasn’t _her._

Looking around the room, Ezekiel had to admit she fit right in though. With all the women in classic hairdo’s, immaculate makeup and expensive dresses, and all the men in suits or expensive sweaters it was a perfectly white Christmas. In every sense of the word.

Which Cassandra had already told him, after he assured her for the tenth time that he really did not mind coming with her to this Christmas from Hell.

‘My parents, they’re very…. traditional,’ she had said, biting her lip and still wondering if this was such a good idea after all.

‘Hey, I can do traditional,’ Ezekiel had said with his best traditional face. ‘Good evening, Mr. Cillian, how splendid to finally meet you. Mrs. Cillian, such a pleasure. The weather outside is terrible for this time of year, wouldn’t you agree?’

And Cassandra had giggled and told him to cut it out. She looked more confident when she said that, though, so Ezekiel took the win.

She even kissed Ezekiel’s cheek and whispered ‘Thank you’ when he came to pick her up for the night, so Ezekiel thought that whatever her family was going to throw at them, he could take it.

At first, everything went according to plan. They arrived right on time (which is easy if you have a magical door and you can leave whenever you want) at the house of Cassandra’s grandmother, who she actually seemed delighted to see. Presents were exchanged, drinks were poured, food was offered and the party seemed off to a good start.

But then Ezekiel actually started talking to people and it turned out that underneath the classy exterior, the Cillians could be a nasty bunch.

First up, of course, were Henry and Sarah, Cassandra’s parents. He was the archetype of a New York lawyer, with dark eyes, hair a distinguished gray and dressed in a dark bespoke suit. She was the archetype of the wife of a New York lawyer: tall, thin and wearing a dark blue dress, her bright red hair cut short in a ruthless bob. They both also wore a matching icy expression when Cassandra introduced Ezekiel to them, and Ezekiel decided immediately that he did not like these people.

‘So, Cassandra,’ Henry said. ‘How come we never heard of your young man before now?’

‘And don’t pick at your fingers, dear, it’s unbecoming,’ Sarah added.

‘You never asked,’ Cassandra replied. Ezekiel looked up at the defiant tone in her voice and already he could see the storm clouds gathering. He took one of her hands in his and gave a reassuring squeeze.

‘What Cassandra means,’ he said, his tone smooth, ‘is that we’re both kind of private about our relationship. I didn’t tell my parents until last month, and we’re going to visit them for the first time on New Year’s Eve.’

‘Hmm,’ was Henry’s reply. Sarah merely nodded.

‘And where exactly do your parents come from, Ezekiel?’ she asked.

‘Melbourne,’ Ezekiel said with a polite grin. ‘I’m an Aussie, born and raised.’ _As if the accent isn’t a dead giveaway._

‘Hmm,’ Henry said again. Ezekiel kind of wanted to know how a person could put so much contempt in three small letters, just so he could try it out for himself one day. Maybe Jenkins would know.

‘Melbourne,’ Sarah said. ‘That’s a long way away.’

‘It sure is,’ Ezekiel agreed.

‘You’re not planning to take our Cassandra with you to the other side of the world, are you?’ Sarah said with a smile that was in no way genuine.

 _Your Cassandra has been living on her own for seven years now, why would you suddenly care,_ Ezekiel did not say. Instead he looked at Cassandra and smiled. A real smile, too, not this fake polite crap that was already hurting his face.

She caught his eye and smiled back, the barely concealed tension melting away for a moment.

‘I’d rather stay here,’ Ezekiel said and it was the first time that evening he’d completely told the truth.

Up next came a horde of cousins, aunts and uncles with invasive questions.

‘So you knew she was sick before you started dating? Wasn’t that weird?’ asked cousin Henriette.

 _No, it wasn’t weird, it was fucking terrifying._ ‘Not really, no,’ Ezekiel said.

‘Those hallucinations are freaky, man. How did you put up with that?’ asked cousin Daniel.

 _They’re not freaky, they’re incredible._ ‘You get used to it,’ Ezekiel said.

‘That surgery sure was a stroke of good luck, wasn’t it?’ asked aunt Mathilda.

 _It was a sodding miracle._ ‘Yes, indeed,’ Ezekiel said.

‘Fierce little puss, isn’t she?’ grinned uncle Theo.

 _I can pinch your credit card and bankrupt you and you wouldn’t even notice before it’s too late. ‘_ She’s something,’ Ezekiel said.

Ezekiel avoided uncle Theo after that.

The only problem he’s having right now, is that Cassandra also seems to be avoiding him.

At this point, Ezekiel has been talking to great-aunt Susie for ten minutes now about how terrible all the news had been lately. Didn’t Ezekiel feel so sorry for all those poor people in those far off countries who had all those awful things happen to them?

Fortunately great-aunt Susie is more than capable of carrying this kind of conversation on her own. All Ezekiel has to do is nod and make sad faces at the appropriate times. In the mean time keeps his eyes on Cassandra, who’s on the other side of the room talking to her parents again. Judging from her rigid posture, it’s not going well.

She catches his eye and he tugs the lapel of his jacket and raises his eyebrows in an unspoken question. It’s the secret signal they agreed on before coming here: if either of them needed rescuing from a relative, Ezekiel would tug his lapel and Cassandra would pull up the shoulder strap on her dress.

For some reason Cassandra just gives a quick shake of her head before she turns around so he can’t see her face anymore.

And that is just weird.

It’s true that, as the evening went on, Ezekiel started being a little more affectionate than strictly necessary for a fake boyfriend, but hey. It’s clear she won’t receive any love from her family and Ezekiel is more than prepared to pick up the slack.

At first it seemed like Cassandra had absolutely no problem with that. She leaned into him as he wrapped an arm around her waist, laced her fingers through his as he took her hand, smiled shyly as he kissed her cheek and promised to be back soon as he went to get her a drink.

You know, the things a guy in love with his fake girlfriend would do.

But know, as he keeps looking at the small figure across the room, Ezekiel gets the distinct impression that Cassandra has deliberately put a distance between them. And that is fine with him, he’s used to people avoiding him (though with Cassandra, it hurts more than he’d like to admit).

He just wants to know what he did wrong.

‘… and what to think of that terror attack last week in Europe, all those people got hurt, it’s all so tragic...’ the voice of aunt Susie continues on. Ezekiel nods and hmmms and agrees that yes, terrible indeed.

As soon as Cassandra turns away from her parents and leaves the room, however, Ezekiel flashes great-aunt Susie a brilliant smile, tells her he really has to go visit the little boys’ room and takes off after Cassandra.

The house of Cassandra’s grandmother is huge and anyone else would get lost in the maze of corridors and doors stretching before him. But he is Ezekiel Jones, master thief, who always knows the fastest way to find whatever he’s after, so he pulls out his phone. The GPS dot labeled ‘Red’ appears to have made its way into the attic.

When he finds her, after clambering up four bloody flights of stairs and _honestly_ , who lives in a house that needs that many stairs, he understands why. After the sweltering and noisy press of the party downstairs, the attic is dark, quiet, filled with books and old, stuffy looking furniture. There’s a huge window opening up to the night sky. Moonlight is slanting in, giving the whole place a kind of magical atmosphere. The nice kind of magic, that is. Not the you’re-going-to-die-in-horrible-pain magic they’ve got in the Library.

It’s also freezing.

Cassandra is curled up on a couch in the corner, burrowed inside a very old and ratty looking blanket. Ezekiel can’t help but smile at the sight. A warm wave of affection rises up inside him and he can feel it creeping into his voice as he softly says: ‘Hey’.

She looks up, seemingly noticing him for the first time. That is when he sees the tears slowly trailing down her cheeks and _shit_.

He wants to rush over, scoop her up and hold her tight, make whatever it is that is making her cry go away, but then Cassandra looks away and burrows even deeper into the blanket.

So rather than coming any closer, Ezekiel makes himself stay in the doorway and says: ‘Look, if you want to get out of here, just say the word. I can call Jenkins, have him set up a door back to the Annex and then straight back to your place. We’ll tell your folks you’ve got a terrible headache and we’ll be gone.’

When Cassandra does not respond, he takes a step forward into the attic. ‘You don’t have to do this to yourself, you know,’ he continues. ‘I know they’re your family and all that, but if you ask me, I’d rather spend Christmas with my old MI6 handler than with this lot. And he was a Jehova’s witness.’

That had actually been the most pleasant thing about the guy, but Ezekiel doesn’t tell Cassandra that. Instead he slowly picks his way further through the gloom until he can set himself down on the other end of the couch, keeping a careful distance from Cassandra. She is still not looking at him but she has unburrowed herself slightly out of the blanket, which he takes as a good sign.

For a moment, Ezekiel wishes Jake was here; he has a feeling Jake knows a lot better what to do with crying girls than Ezekiel does.

He also kind of wishes he had a blanket himself, because the cold is seeping right through his suit jacket.

‘It’s not just them,’ Cassandra whispers after a long minute of silence. Then she repeats slightly louder: ‘It’s not just them.’

Ezekiel stops surreptitiously rubbing his hands together because Cassandra sounding upset like that demands his full attention. ‘Then what is it?’ he asks.

Cassandra doesn’t reply immediately. She starts picking at imaginary blanket fluff so she still doesn’t have to look at Ezekiel.

‘My parents don’t like you,’ she says, which is not at all an answer to the question Ezekiel was asking. ‘They wanted to know why I couldn’t find a nice, normal, _American_ boyfriend.’

It’s a blatant attempt to change the subject, but Ezekiel decides to roll with it. ‘Okay, first of all: everybody likes me. Look at me, I’m irresistible.’ He flashes her one of his trademark grins, the one that (almost) never fails to get him out of trouble.

‘Second of all: if your parents want you to have an _American_ fake boyfriend, that’s easy. Take Stone with you next time. Just tell him not to punch anyone first, and you’ll be fine.’

Cassandra starts to giggle at that, but it ends in something that sounds suspiciously like a sob. Ezekiel senses that somehow he’s inching towards the root of the problem so he continues: ‘You know Stone would love it, though. Playing the knight in shining cowboy boots and all that.’

By now, Cassandra has buried herself entirely into the blanket again, trembling all over. Ezekiel gives in and scoots up next to her. He puts a soothing hand on top of the blanket burrito and tries not to enjoy the tiny bit of warmth too much. 

‘Hey, listen’ he says, ‘if you want me to scram and Stone to take over, it’s okay. I can call him and I’ll guarantee you he’ll get down here straightaway.’

He’s seen the way Jake looks at Cassandra when he thinks no one else is looking, and he’s also seen the looks Cassandra steals at Stone. If Ezekiel can get these two kids to get their act together then he’ll do it. His own heart be damned; it’s Christmas, after all.

Being a good guy sucks, though.

The blanket stops trembling and Ezekiel can practically hear the cogwheels spinning inside. Then Cassandra pokes her head back out the top and looks at him. Her makeup has gone completely to hell, her hair is a mass of frizzy curls, her face is streaked with tears and she’s the most beautiful thing Ezekiel’s ever seen. And he’s stolen some _very_ pretty things.

Being a good guy _really_ sucks.

‘But it’s not just about Jake,’ Cassandra says, as if she has to drag out every word. ‘And also, I’m pretty sure he likes you more than he likes me,’ she continues, winning an immediate first prize in the category How To Turn Ezekiel Jones’ World Upside Down In Ten Words Or Less.

‘What?’ he asks, dumbstruck for what might very well be the first time in his life.

Cassandra shrugs, tugging the blanket tighter around her shoulders. ‘I’ve seen the way he looks at you when he thinks no one can see,’ she says. ‘And you look at him too.’

It’s true. Ezekiel has checked out Jake’s very fine physique on more than one occasion. For some reason he has just completely missed the fact that Jake has apparently been returning the favor. Probably because Ezekiel was too busy checking out Cassandra as well and _oh my god_ the reality of what might actually be happening here suddenly hits him and he almost laughs out loud.

Cassandra still looks upset, though. So Ezekiel ignores the bubble of hysterical laughter that is drifting up inside, clears his throat and very seriously asks her: ‘Cass. Do you know what a polyamorous relationship is?’

Cassandra goes very quiet for a moment. Then she says, in a voice so small that Ezekiel almost doesn’t hear it: ‘Do you really think that would work?’

Ezekiel nods slowly, because he doesn’t really trust his voice at the moment. He swallows and tries again. ‘Yeah,’ he manages. ‘Yeah. I think it would.’

‘But do you think Jake would be okay with that as well?’ Cassandra asks in that same small voice. She’s started picking at the blanket again, and Ezekiel puts his hand on top of hers.

‘More than okay,’ Ezekiel says, now unable to keep a slow grin from spreading across his face. ‘Cassandra, look at me.’

She does and Ezekiel feels his gut twist as he sees the barely concealed hope in her eyes. He lets go of her hands and cups her cheek, wiping away a solitary tear with his thumb.

‘I think he would be more than okay,’ he repeats, silently praying that he is right but not too worried that he might be wrong. ‘You can have both of us, cupcake. If you want to.’

 _You already got us,_ he thinks.

Cassandra closes her eyes as she leans into his touch and Ezekiel’s heart does something complicated in his chest that he didn’t know hearts could do.

‘I want to,’ she whispers.

There’s a lot of things Ezekiel wants to do in that moment. He wants to jump off the couch and do some kind of victory dance. He wants to take Cassandra in his arms and spin her around in a giddy whirl until they both feel dizzy. He wants to laugh, and scream, and also maybe cry a little for some reason. He wants to call Jake _now_ , because whatever happens next, Jake should be part of it. Hell, he _is_ part of it, even if he doesn’t know it yet.

_Merry Christmas, Stone. Hope you like the surprise that’s coming your way._

But first, he has to close his eyes and remember himself to breathe for a second. ‘I want to, too,’ he says very softly. Then he leans in and kisses her.

He aims for a short and gentle press of lips, nothing more. Not until Jake gets involved, anyway, but Cassandra has other plans. She flings herself at him, blanket and all and kisses him back with an enthusiasm that almost takes him by surprise.

It’s glorious. Cassandra is warm, a living furnace in the chill of the attic, and the blanket smells like dust but she smells like strawberries and she tastes like honey. His hands tangle in her hair as he pulls her closer, while hers slip inside his suit jacket and around his back, roving up and down in time with the slide of their lips.

Then Cassandra pulls back a little, smiling so bright Ezekiel can’t help but smile back.

‘Oranges,’ she informs him.

Ezekiel’s smile grows wider. ‘Sorry?’

‘Oranges,’ she repeats. ‘Kissing you is like oranges. And I _like_ oranges.’

Just for that, Ezekiel has to kiss her again. She hums against his mouth and he lets her in, losing himself in her taste, her touch, the greedy little sounds she makes in the back of her throat, the solid weight of her body against his.

When they break apart, Cassandra curls up against Ezekiel, head resting on his shoulder. Ezekiel wraps one arm around her shoulders while with the other hand he starts tracing slow patterns on her arm which is draped across his stomach. They stay wrapped up on the couch together like that for a while, breathing in tandem.

Cassandra is the first to break the silence. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispers.

‘For what?’ Ezekiel asks.

Cassandra is quiet for a moment. Then the words tumble out in a rush, as if she either has to say it all at once or not at all:

‘I was avoiding you earlier because… I thought I could handle being in a fake relationship with you for one evening, but I kept thinking about how we’d have to go back to being just friends when the party was over and we’d gone back to work and you were being so nice and sweet and caring all the time and I wanted to tell you so bad about… about this but I thought I couldn’t and it just… it just...’

She stops and makes a sort of helpless gesture. Ezekiel gets it, though. ‘It’s okay,’ he says, squeezing her tighter for a moment. ‘So I was an awesome fake boyfriend, you really should have seen that coming.’

Cassandra giggles and snuggles ( _snuggles,_ there’s no other word for it and Ezekiel loves it) closer against his chest.

Ezekiel would be more than happy to spend the rest of the night like this but unfortunately, there’s something else they still need to do. He sits up and gently dislodges Cassandra.

‘We gotta call Stone,’ he says as she makes an adorable protesting sound.

That helps. She looks up and Ezekiel can’t resist a smile at seeing the flush in her cheeks. ‘You want to call him now?’ she asks.

‘Well,’ he says, ‘we could call him now, or we could wait until he’s back from Okla-bloody-homa.’

Cassandra wrinkles her nose. ‘That’ll be next week.’

‘My point exactly.’

She nods, then carefully disentangles herself from Ezekiel. ‘OK. You call him, I’m going to try and fix my face.’ She attempts to tuck a stray curl behind her ear and winces. ‘And hair.’

Ezekiel kisses her cheek, because he can do that now. ‘I’ll better go tell your folks you’re not feeling too great, then. See you back downstairs in an hour?’

Cassandra nods and Ezekiel just has to kiss her one more time before he lets go of her completely. ‘Come on. We’ve got a cowboy to catch.’

* * *

Ezekiel goes downstairs and quietly explains to Cassandra’s grandmother and parents: ‘I’m so sorry, terrible headache, she had to lie down, thank you, it’s very kind of you to offer but I’m afraid more people will only make it worse, a side effect from the surgery unfortunately, I think the party’s gotten to her, as soon as she feels a bit better I’m afraid I’ll have to take her home, again, so sorry...’. Then he runs back upstairs to ‘look after’ his girlfriend without giving them time to ask any more questions.

Now he’s sitting at the foot of the second flight of stairs. Cassandra has squirreled herself away in the guest bathroom across the hall, armed with a hairbrush and a bag full of supplies Ezekiel did not want to inspect any further.

He has been staring at the screen of his phone for ten minutes.

His finger has been hovering over the ‘call’ button for five.

He is still sure about what he told Cassandra. Jake is definitely into her, and if (as Cassandra seems to believe) he’s also into Ezekiel, he will have absolutely no problem with forming a triad. The only problem is that you can’t really call a guy on Christmas Eve and tell him ‘hey, we’re both into you and we think you might be into us as well, wanna meet up for a shag?’

Especially not if the guy in question can tell him to sod off in more languages than Ezekiel’s got fingers.

He takes a deep breath and then, before he can stop himself, hits the button. _Here goes nothing._

Jake answers at the third ring. ‘Jones, please tell me Nick hasn’t gone missing again.’

Ezekiel can hear a muffled roar of laughter behind him, then a crash and what sounds like a small child loudly disagreeing with the way things are going. ‘Merry Christmas to you too, mate. You having fun?’

The static of Jake’s sigh crackles in Ezekiel’s ear. ‘Yeah, it’s okay. My dad hasn’t forgotten about the Hoklonote, though.’

Ezekiel makes a face. ‘You wanna come over here and swap with me? The Cillians are a real picnic too.’

‘Yeah, I bet they are,’ Jake says. ‘You doing okay over there? Cassie’s not murdered anyone yet?’

‘No, she’s fine. We’re fine. Everybody lives, for now.’ Ezekiel pauses, then continues. ‘Actually...’

He falls silent.

‘Actually what, Jones?’

Jake sounds worried. It isn’t like Ezekiel to leave a sentence unfinished, but Ezekiel feels like he’s about to jump off a cliff here and he needs a minute.

‘Jones, I know you didn’t call me just to ask how my Christmas was going or to bitch about Cassie’s awful parents, so just tell me what the fuck is going on.’

Ezekiel takes another deep breath, and dives off the cliff. ‘Cass and I need to talk to you.’

There’s some more laughter in the background, followed by someone yelling at Jake to get his ass back there because the food is getting cold. Then Ezekiel hears footsteps, a door slams shut and all the noise suddenly disappears.

Jake returns to the phone and says in a flat voice: ‘About what?’

‘I can’t exactly tell you over the phone,’ Ezekiel says, wondering what Jake is thinking that makes his voice sound so heavy. ‘Could we meet up at the Annex tonight? Or, or tomorrow is also fine if you...’

Jake interrupts him. ‘Jones, you do not call somebody, tell them ‘we need to talk’ and then try and put things off till tomorrow. I’ll be there in thirty minutes,’ and ends the call, leaving Ezekiel to stare at the screen in confusion. _That did not sound right._

It takes exactly thirty minutes before Cassandra emerges from the bathroom, makeup and hair restored. It takes another ten minutes to say goodbye to Cassandra’s grandmother, who is determined to see her off despite Ezekiel’s protests that it’s really not necessary. This makes things a little awkward, since Ezekiel and Cassandra arrived by Backdoor and are planning to leave the same way, so they have to make a little show of walking down the street together, waving and laughing until they’re out of sight.

When they’re finally tumbling into the Annex, Jake is already waiting for them. He is frowning and his mouth is set in a thin line, but he lights up as Cassandra squeaks and launches herself at him. ‘Hey Cassie,’ he says and smiles as she flings her arms around his neck and kisses him soundly on the cheek.

‘Merry Christmas, Jake,’ she chirps.

Jake wraps a strong arm around Cassandra’s back and softly pecks her cheek. ‘Merry Christmas,’ he whispers back.

For a split second there is a look of such longing on Jake’s face as he hugs Cassandra that it takes Ezekiel’s breath away. It’s gone in an instant and Ezekiel is still not sure if he’s imagined it when Jake looks at him and says, grinning a tad too bright: ‘Merry Christmas, Jones. I need to congratulate you with something?’

Ezekiel stares at Jake as a horrible understanding flashes before his eyes.

_Oh._

_Oh no._

_Stone, for a genius you can be pretty bloody stupid sometimes._

Cassandra peeks up at Jake, confused. ‘What do you mean?’

Jake doesn’t answer. He keeps looking at Ezekiel, still with that too wide grin on his face. _He thinks we’ve come here to tell him our fake date wasn’t fake after all. Or that we worked things out between the two of us, which we kind of did, but not in the way he’s thinking._

‘You’re an idiot,’ Ezekiel tells him, which wipes the fake grin right of Jake’s face. _Good. ‘_ We needed to talk to you, because our girl over there learned a new word tonight. And we know how much you like words, so we thought it could be your Christmas present. You’re welcome.’

Ezekiel doesn’t miss the strange look that crosses over Jake’s face as he says ‘our girl.’ He doesn’t miss the pleased smile Cassandra gives him either.

Now it’s Jake’s turn to look at Cassandra in confusion. Cassandra looks back at Ezekiel and he can see that she now believes what he told her earlier. Perhaps it has something to do with the arm that’s still wrapped around her waist and which Jake seems to have forgotten about but then again, that could be just Ezekiel imagining things.

He smiles at her and nods. ‘Tell him.’

Cassandra nods back. She makes quite a show of cupping Jake’s ear and whispering something so softly that Ezekiel can’t hear it. It doesn’t matter; it’s clear Jake hears it all too well.

He freezes for a moment before he stumbles back. His eyes are wide and he stares at Cassandra as if she made him some kind of scandalous proposition, the kind that no good ol’ Christian country boy from Oklahoma would _ever_ think of accepting.

Cassandra steps back too. She bites her lip and it looks like she wants to say something more, but Ezekiel walks over and puts a hand on the small of her back.

‘Look,’ he says, ‘it’s up to you, mate. If you’re not into splitting things three ways, that’s okay. But me and Cass, we’re kind of hoping you are because I don’t think this is gonna work without you.’

It’s true. Ezekiel might not have all that much experience with committed relationships, but he knows things won’t end well when both parties are also head over heels for someone else. They need Jake in this, or else he and Cassandra won’t stand a chance.

Jake is still staring. However, by now it’s less the wild-eyed stare of a man who can’t _believe_ what he just heard, and more the look of a man offered… well, offered a Christmas present that he is scared to open. A Christmas present that is way too big and looks way too valuable to be meant for him.

Ezekiel feels Cassandra’s hand slide into his own and he squeezes it as she holds on tight. It feels like it’s New Year’s Eve already and they’re staning there in that breathless moment right before midnight, waiting for the ball to drop.

After a short eternity of absolute silence, Jake closes his eyes and clears his throat. He sounds like he’s swallowed a truckload of gravel as he says: ‘Jones. Are you… are you _sure_ about this? Because...’

He stops and takes a deep breath before he continues. ‘Because this… it’s not… I mean. It’s.’

It seems the guy who Ezekiel is convinced eats dictionaries for breakfast is finally at a loss for words. He understands what Jake is not saying, though. And it stings a little, but it is also a fair question.

_Are you sure about this? Because you, Mr. I Have No Ties To Anyone In The Real World, are about to commit yourself to two people here._

What Jake does not know, however, is that Ezekiel started committing himself to both Jake and Cassandra the moment he set foot into the Library. If he has anything to say about the rest of his life, however short or long that may be, he is going to spend it with them. In whatever capacity they will have him.

‘I’m sure,’ he says simply.

There’s a soft sound somewhere next to him, followed by a flash of red and green as Cassandra rushes forward. This time when Jake catches her, he wraps her up tight in both arms and buries his face in her hair.

‘You too?’ Ezekiel hears him say, his voice muffled. ‘Cassie, you sure too?’

‘ _YES,’_ Cassandra whispers before she turns her head and kisses him fiercely. Jake immediately responds in kind, tightening the death grip he already has on her shoulders and kissing her back with a desperation that makes Ezekiel wonder just _how long_ Jake has been waiting for this.

_Probably since the moment we first laid eyes on each other. As I think we all did._

He knows he’s watching the others with an awfully fond expression on his face, but Ezekiel doesn’t care. He wants to make sure he never forgets this image; these are his two favorite people in the world finally getting what they want and Ezekiel cannot believe their luck.

Jake’s kisses grow gentler until it’s just a soft press of lips on lips. They break away, foreheads resting together and both out of breath. Then Cassandra smiles and says: ‘Cinnamon.’

‘What’s that, darlin’?’ Jake asks in a voice Ezekiel’s never heard before, but that he definitely wants to hear again. He looks completely relaxed now, all his earlier tension gone without a trace.

‘Cinnamon,’ Cassandra repeats, her smile growing wider. ‘Ezekiel’s oranges but you’re cinnamon, all warm and spicy.’

Jake looks at Ezekiel and grins. ‘Oranges, eh?’

That’s all Ezekiel needs. He walks over and cups Jake’s cheek, silently enjoying the prickle of stubble against his fingers. ‘Cinnamon sounds good,’ he whispers before he dives in.

He doesn’t taste cinnamon, though. Jake tastes a bit like beer and a bit like Christmas dinner and he smells like sweat and woodsmoke and chieap cologne. It’s a mix that Ezekiel secretly calls ‘Eau de cowboy’ and it's every bit as glorious as kissing Cassandra. Jake is a bit rougher with him than he was with Cassandra, tugging Ezekiel’s lower lip with his teeth, digging strong fingers into his shoulder blades to pull him closer and barely letting up long enough for Ezekiel to catch his breath.

Someone is tugging at his jacket, so Ezekiel lets go of Jake for a moment and shucks it off. Jake gets the hint and lets go of Ezekiel as well to get rid of his own jacket, then immediately grabs him again. Now the warmth of Jake pressed up against him is searing through Ezekiel’s shirt, while Jake’s muscles are moving right under Ezekiel’s hands and Ezekiel has to agree that little less clothing makes the kissing a whole lot better.

Ezekiel is the first to pull away, pressing one last, gentle kiss to Jake’s mouth. ‘Damn, cowboy,’ he says between heavy breaths, ‘if I knew you’d kiss like that, I’d have done this months ago.’

The corner of Jake’s mouth quirks up. ‘I wish you would’ve,’ he mutters, confirming Ezekiel’s suspicions about certain hillbilly art historians with a martyr streak.

He shakes his head and wraps one arm around Jake’s waist, reaching for Cassandra with his other arm and pulling her in between them. He turns his head and presses a fierce kiss to her temple as Cassandra’s arms wrap around his waist and she buries her face against his neck.  _We did it,_ he thinks. The thought causes a rush of _something_ which threatens to overwhelm him so he has to close his eyes and focus on his breathing for a moment.  _We did it. Fucking hell._

Jake wraps himself around Cassandra’s other side and is now resting his forehead against her temple as well. His eyes are closed and he’s nuzzling tiny kisses into her hair, as if he can’t stop kissing them now that he’s finally allowed to. The three of them stay like that for several minutes, breathing together in the darkness and quiet of the Annex as a new reality takes shape around them.

Then Cassandra, always the one to take the initiative, dips her hands under Ezekiel’s shirt and slowly starts moving them up and down his sides. Her clever fingers dance over his skin, causing the best kind of goosebumps. When he leans back a little to give her more room, she brings her hands to his front and starts unbuttoning his shirt. On her other side Jake has started to move too, tugging at her dress and covering her neck and shoulders in slow, gentle kisses. Tension is seeping back into the air, but this time it’s the right kind of tension. The kind that will shortly lead to a lot of fun for everybody involved.

Ezekiel cups Cassandra’s head with one hand and pulls her closer for a kiss, his other hand moving down to cup her very shapely ass. Now she smells like strawberries and tastes like Jake, and _that_ is just a whole new level of intoxicating. The sounds she makes against him as Jake’s kisses become less gentle are absolutely delicious and Ezekiel laps them up. Then her hand skates over one of his nipples and he has to pull away from her mouth and sink his teeth into Jake’s shoulder to stop himself from crying out.

Jake looks up from Cassandra’s skin, a bemused look on his face. ‘What the hell are you doin’ to him, Cassie?’ he says.

In the true tradition of ‘show, don’t tell,’ Cassandra reaches out and rubs Ezekiel’s nipples again. This time he’s prepared for it, though, and he merely hisses loudly.

‘Wow,’ Cassandra whispers.

‘Damn,’ Jake agrees, a grin on his face that does not bode well for Ezekiel. ‘Cassie, I think you’ve finally found his off switch.’

‘ _On_ switch, more like,’ Cassandra says with a grin almost as wide as Jake’s and Ezekiel decides that that is enough.

‘If we want to take this any further,’ he manages while he swats away Jake’s hand which is coming up to his chest, in a blatant attempt to make Ezekiel make more funny noises, ‘I suggest we find ourselves a bed.’

At that, Jake’s face darkens. ‘I can’t stay the night,’ he says. ‘I’ve gotta get back to my folks' home before mornin’.’

Now it’s Ezekiel’s turn to grin. ‘That’s alright, mate,’ he says, wrapping a possessive arm around Cassandra. ‘You go get yourself back to your mum and dad's. Cass and I can continue the fun together, no worries.’

Jake glares at him. ‘The hell you are, Jones,’ he growls. Then he pounces.

Before Ezekiel can register what’s happening, Jake has him pinned against the wall and if Ezekiel thought their first kiss was full of fire, this one burns the fucking house down. Jake’s mouth is hard against his and when Ezekiel opens up and lets Jake in, the man full-on _growls_ into his mouth. The sound goes straight to Ezekiel’s cock. He can already feel the heat starting to pool in his stomach and that is before Jake flicks open the button on Ezekiel’s pants with one hand and slides said hand down into his boxers.

If Ezekiel could care at the moment, he would be far from proud at the sound he makes when he feels Jake’s rough, calloused fingers close around him. Instead, he just shoves his pants down to give Jake better access and catches his mouth again for a long, deep and downright _dirty_ kiss. 

Then Jake’s hand starts moving and Ezekiel immediately notices the downsides of an impromptu handjob in the office. He is leaking enough that it’s not outright painful, but it’s not exactly a comfortable sensation either and he doubts it will get any better when Jake starts going in earnest.

‘Stop,’ he manages to pant out. ‘Stone, hold up. Stop.’

Jake immediately lets go, takes his hand away and steps back. On one hand this is great, of course, but it also means that Ezekiel is losing the one thing that kept him upright. Apparently his knees have given up the moment Jake stuck his tongue down Ezekiel’s throat.

‘What’s wrong?’ Jake asks.

Ezekiel grins and shakes his head. ‘Nothing’s wrong mate, this is all feeling bloody fantastic. It’s just...’ He pauses for a second, his grin growing suddenly a little bashful. ‘You don’t suppose Jenkins keeps a bottle of lube in here, do you?’

He hasn’t even said it before Jake is crowding him again, his strong frame pressing him back against the wall. His stubble rasps across Ezekiel’s cheek as a rough voice purrs into his ear: ‘If it’s too dry for you Jones, then I’ve got something else for you.’

Before Ezekiel can process this, his boxers are down to his ankles and Jake is down on his knees, gripping his hips tight with bruising fingers and swallowing him down without further ado.

Ezekiel’s hand automatically goes to Jake’s head, tangling his fingers in his hair and trying his best not to pull as his eyes fall closed. His head drops back against the wall with a thud and he lets out a string of curse words, followed by a loud moan. Then more cursing, because _holy hell_ , Jake does know how to use that mouth of his for other things than spouting poetry at inopportune moments.

Suddenly he hears a giggle somewhere to the side and: ‘ _Language,_ Ezekiel.’

He opens his eyes and sees that Cassandra is watching the proceedings with considerable interest. Her cheeks are flushed almost as red as her hair and her pupils are huge. She has also hitched up the skirt of her dress so she can reach inside her panties and that is just not fair.

Jake seems to think so too, because he stops treating Ezekiel like his own personal life-sized lollipop for a second and gives her a wicked grin. ‘You just wait, Cassie,’ he says in a tone that makes both Cassandra and Ezekiel shiver. ‘You just wait your turn.’

He then returns his attention to Ezekiel. Within minutes, Ezekiel is reduced to a shivering mess, breathing in and out in short, shallow bursts of air and reciting what may or may not be the security measures surrounding Michelangelo’s David to keep himself from coming within the next ten seconds.

Suddenly his cheek is cupped in a small hand, softer than Jake’s, and he smells strawberries. Apparently Cassandra has decided she might as well join Jake and start playing with Ezekiel too. Or let Ezekiel play with her. Ezekiel is not entirely sure what her purpose is, but that doesn’t matter. He slides his free arm around her waist, pulling her in tighter and starts pressing a trail of kisses from Cassandra’s mouth to her cheek to her neck, making her gasp. His kisses grow sloppier and less controlled as Jake keeps steadily working him over, finding and exploiting sweet spots Ezekiel didn’t even know existed. His hips start to stutter, despite Jake’s hands trying to keep him in place, and Ezekiel tightens his hand in Jake’s hair. He peels his face free from Cassandra’s neck and tries to warn Jake, give him a chance to pull off in time, but then Cassandra slips a hand beneath his shirt, finds a nipple and _twists_ , and he’s done.

‘Sorry,’ he mumbles to Jake when he finally has his voice again, ‘didn’t mean to...’.

Before he can finish, Jake stands up and kisses him, far softer and gentler than before. ‘Didn’t mind,’ he whispers hoarsely. ‘Didn’t mind at all.’

Ezekiel tries formulate a reply but to do that, he needs more brain cells than he currently has online. So instead he just gives Jake a stupid smile and kisses him again, reveling in the taste of himself in Jake’s mouth.

He then turns to face Cassandra, who has unbuttoned Jake’s shirt and is now skating her clever fingers all over his chest like he’s some kind of new equation she can only solve by touch. Jake looks at her as well, and for a moment, everything grows perfectly still.

‘ _Oh’_ Cassandra breathes, right before both Jake and Ezekiel pounce on her and have her out of her dress in one fluid, perfectly coordinated motion: Ezekiel taking care of the zipper and pulling the dress off her shoulders and down to the floor, Jake catching her at the hips and lifting her bodily out of it.

He doesn’t even try put her down; instead Cassandra kicks off her high heels and wraps her legs around his waist. Jake catches her mouth in a kiss that seems to last forever, his hands keeping her ass in a firm grip and her hands tangled in his hair. 

Ezekiel couldn’t tear his gaze way if he tried, and the knowledge that he doesn’t _have_ to causes his legs to feel even shakier than they already are. He swallows, closes his eyes for a second and when he opens them again, Jake has carried Cassandra over to the nearest desk. It happens to be Jake’s own desk, which is both good and not that great. One one hand it's good, because you don’t fuck your coworkers on another coworker’s desk. It’s also not that great, because Jake is not exactly neat and his desk is by far the most cluttered of all _._ He manages to get one hand free and clear some space right on the edge, though, before he puts Cassandra down.

‘How do you want me, darlin’?’ he drawls, one hand slowly tracing up her thigh while the other goes behind her back to unclasp her bra. He kisses her neck right at the same sensitive spot that Ezekiel found earlier, eliciting the same gasp. The gasp turns into a moan when he sucks down hard, just grazing the skin with his teeth. Cassandra’s bra falls to the floor and Jake starts sucking bruising kisses into her pale skin, right down until he can catch one of her nipples with his lips.

While Jake's mouth has moved down, the hand on Cassandra’s thigh has moved up and is now edging teasingly along the line of her panties. ‘How you want me, Cassie?’ he repeats, his voice low but gentle, a far cry from the tone he used with Ezekiel.

Ezekiel thinks that might be a mistake, because Cassandra might look awfully innocent sometimes, it is clear that right now she is anything but. He walks over (his legs are finally sort of functioning properly again, _god_ ) and manages to remove most of the books, papers and old coffee cups from Jake’s desk before he clambers up behind her. It’s a good thing the desk is one of those ancient oaken monstrosities, probably as old as the Library itself, or they would have had a serious problem in about five minutes.

‘Fingers,’ Cassandra breathes against Jake’s temple, ‘start with fingers. Not too slow.’

Jake does not need to be told twice. Her panties join her bra on the floor and soon, Cassandra is gasping against him while Ezekiel is bracing her from behind. His hands start roving up and down her sides as he presses kisses into her neck, her shoulder blades and then up and down her back, vertebra by vertebra. It is quite cool in the Annex, but Cassandra’s skin is covered in a sheen of sweat and it’s one of the sweetest things Ezekiel’s ever tasted. When his mouth is level with her neck again, he looks over her shoulder at Jake and grins.

‘You know, Cassie, he’s got a damn good mouth,’ he stage whispers into her ear.

Jake’s face splits in a grin to match his own. ‘So I’ve been told,’ he says with a look at Ezekiel that can only be described as a leer.

Cassandra starts nodding furiously, hands already reaching for Jake’s hair to try and push him down. Jake’s grin turns into a fond smile as he kisses her softly and murmurs ‘Easy there, missy,’ his accent drawing the words out like molasses. He then proceeds to kiss an agonizingly slow trail down her neck and chest, making Cassandra squirm and whine with impatience. Ezekiel scoots up, wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her flush against him, because once Jake goes down, she’s going to need all the support she can get.

Being plastered against Cassandra’s back like this has the added advantage that Ezekiel can now cup one of her breasts into his hand and get some revenge for that nipple twisting stunt she pulled earlier. He rolls them between finger and thumb, first one, then the other, making her moan.

Suddenly she moans even louder. Ezekiel looks down and sees that Jake is on his knees again and that his face is buried between Cassandra’s thighs.

‘ _Good,’_ she gasps, ‘ _good mouth,_ so so good,’ and Ezekiel couldn’t agree more. He kisses her neck, her shoulders, her hair, every part of her he can reach, while one of his hands is still working her nipples. Between him and Jake, it takes only a few minutes until she comes undone for the first time, trembling and shaking and spouting the most wonderful and incomprehensible string of numbers and formulas Ezekiel has ever heard.

Jake does not let up, though. Instead he keeps at it until the mathematical equations become a string of breakfast foods, then scents, then colors until she just utters a very soft _oh_ and collapses against Ezekiel.

Jake comes up from between her legs with a grin shining on his face. The grin only gets wider as he sees Cassandra’s eyes are closed and her body has gone completely limp. ‘Wow.’

‘She’s completely out of it,’ Ezekiel says, his voice a mix of fondness and wonder.

‘Brain wired just a bit differently would do that,’ Jake says softly as he tucks a strand of hair from Cassandra’s forehead and cradles her cheek with his hand, stroking her temple with his thumb.

At that, Cassandra’s eyes crack open. ‘No,’ she mutters, ‘ _you_ do that. Both of you. Your fault.’

Her eyes fall closed again and she breathes a very contented sigh. Ezekiel huffs a laugh and presses a kiss to her hair. Then he looks at Jake who is grinning like a fool again. ‘She’s not wrong, you know. This is your fault.’

Jake just shakes his head. ‘Guilty as charged, I guess.’

It is then, belatedly, that Ezekiel realizes that he and Cassandra might be perfectly content and happy in this moment, but that the cause of that contentment might still be needing some release.

He looks down quickly and yeah, Jake must definitely be feeling uncomfortable as hell right now. And honestly, after what Jake’s done tonight, Ezekiel would happily bend over the desk and let Jake take him any way he wants. Unfortunately, Cassandra is still slumped between them so that is not going to be an option. So Ezekiel does what he can do: he hoists Cassandra up into a slightly more stable position against him, wraps one arm tight around her waist to keep her steady and draws Jake closer with his other arm. ‘Come here, cowboy,’ he says roughly, ‘your turn now.’

Jake’s hand already starts working on his belt, but Ezekiel swats it away. ‘Let me.’

He works the belt open and lets Jake handle the button and zipper as he carefully brings his hand between Cassandra’s legs and wets his fingers with her slick. She whimpers a little at the sensation, still sensitive, and he murmurs an apology before he draws his fingers away and wraps them around Jake.

Jake’s eyes immediately fall closed and he groans with relief at Ezekiel’s touch. It’s clear he won’t last long, so Ezekiel doesn’t even try to draw things out. A couple of strokes and he has Jake right on the edge, bracing himself against Ezekiel and growling like some kind of giant jungle cat. It’s unbelievably hot and Ezekiel kind of wants things to last a little longer, but he is not a cruel guy. So instead he just pauses for a second and when Jake almost whines in protest, brings his mouth to Jake’s ear and says in a low voice: ‘You know, next time we’re gonna thank you properly for tonight, I promise. Just tell me: do you wanna bottom or top?’ and there Jake goes.

When he’s done, he slumps forward against Ezekiel, face buried in the crook of his neck and arms haphazardly draped around him and Cassandra. He mumbles something unintelligible to Ezekiel’s shoulder but Ezekiel smiles and kisses his temple. ‘Right back at ya.’

The minutes slowly tick away as Ezekiel sits there, perched on top of a desk in the Annex with his two favorite people in the world completely blissed out in his arms. He knows they are going to need to talk about things later. They’re going to need to talk about a _lot_ of things if they want to make this work. They’re going to need to set up rules and terms and conditions, tell each other all that personal stuff that’s important to know in a relationship, such as where he lives, or the fact that he still has raging nightmares about that stupid video game (and won’t _that_ conversation be a lot of fun) and most importantly, what they are and are not going to tell Eve and Flynn and Jenkins.

But that will all be later. Right now, Ezekiel presses kisses into Jake’s hair, murmurs endearments against Cassandra’s temple and all he can think is: _I fucking love Christmas._


End file.
